


Whispered Darkly

by badskippy



Series: Bagginshield One-Offs [17]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Fear/Comfort, Ghosts, Loving Thorin, M/M, Nightmares, frightened Bilbo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 21:30:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12021381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badskippy/pseuds/badskippy
Summary: Bilbo wakes and swears his greatest nemesis has returned and he is terrified.





	Whispered Darkly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Emsiecat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emsiecat/gifts), [aquileaofthelonelymountain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquileaofthelonelymountain/gifts), [Neeka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neeka/gifts), [beetle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beetle/gifts), [whyisitclever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whyisitclever/gifts).



> The lovely emsiecat asked for this prompt ... Wat about Thorin and Bilbo in bed together and one of them thinks they hear or see a ghost?

* * *

 

 

            What it was that woke him, he could not say. Was it a sound? A touch? A feeling? Bilbo Baggins could not say for sure. Only that some ... _thing_ ... had woken him. He lay in the large bed, eyes wide and alert, ears turned to listen.

            Was that a sound?!

            Was it a sort of ... scrapping? Like something hard and scaly sliding slowly along the stone floor?

            Wait ... was ... was that a ... a ... a hiss? Someone or ... again, some _thing_ ... whispering?

            Shadows moved upon the wall but ... they were only shadows.

            Weren’t they?

            There was knocking. He’d swear it. He could hear it! It sounded like ... like a heart beating.

            But from where?

            From whom?

            From what?!

            With trembling hands, Bilbo peeled the covers back from his body and moved in slow motion from the bed. The stone floor was only slightly warmer than ice, but still, he took slow, silent, deliberate steps, not wanting to alert what ever ... _it_... was that was there.

            For some _thing_ was there.

            In the room.

            In the shadows.

            _... tthhiiieeeefff ..._

            Bilbo gasped and spun around. Was that the shadow of a wing? There was a scent in the air. It smelled of ... of soot and ash and ... and ... _decay ..._ within the room. The very room itself suddenly seemed to shrink and the air wrapped about him ... constricting him ... he couldn’t breathe ... and shadows moved and slithered upon the wall like serpents.

            He was not alone!

            “Who ... who’s there?” Bilbo whispered.

            _... thief ..._

            “Who ... who are you?”

            _... my teeth are swords ..._

            “No.”

            _... my claws are spears ..._

            “No!”

            _... I ... am ... death ..._

“NOOOOOOOOOO!” Bilbo screamed, curling in upon himself and trembled on the floor as he felt the presence of the dragon envelope him. He screamed and screamed, frightened, terrified, until .... until.

            “Bilbo!”

            Suddenly Bilbo was seized and pulled to standing. And there before him stood Thorin, strong and true, calling Bilbo’s name and Bilbo was so grateful, so happy, so relieved to see Thorin that he threw himself into the Dwarf’s arms and clung tight, least Thorin disappear.

            “Beloved!” Thorin said, concern in his voice, as he wrapped his arms about the shivering, shaking Hobbit.

            The doors to the bed chamber burst open, and Bilbo startled, gasping in fear, even as two royal guards came in, one with axes in either hand and the other with a long spear, both ready to defend their king and consort.

            “Stand down,” Thorin commanded. “There is no issue.”

            “We heard shouting, my liege.” The one with the axes said.

            Thorin shook his head. “Master Baggins has had but a bad dream.   Nothing more.”

            The guards stood there for a few long moments longer, their eyes searching the room quickly, regardless of Thorin’s declaration. But they soon relaxed and nodded to the king.

            “I do not want this talked of,” Thorin said, his calm, stern voice made clear that his displease was what the guards would earn should they spread rumors of Bilbo’s nightmare.

            “Yes, my lord.” “Of course, your majesty.” Both spoke over the other but they nodded again and backed out of the room, closing the doors behind them.

            “It’s all right, my love,” Thorin whispered as Bilbo continued to shiver.

            “He was here!” Bilbo whispered back, terrified. “In this room!”

            “Who was here?”

            “Smaug!”

            “No, my sweet. It was but a dream.”

            Bilbo shook his head emphatically. “I swear! I saw his shadow! His ghost!”

            Thorin pulled Bilbo even closer. “I trick of the light.” He turned them both so as to face the fire. “See? The fire is dying and the embers are casting shadows upon the walls.”

            “But I could smell him! Soot and death!”

            Thorin shook his head. “Just the smell of the burnt wood and I know for a fact that I have ignored the bowl of fruit you set by my desk; it is but the smell of spoiled fruit ... that is all.”

            “But I heard him too! Hissing and whispering!”

            “The hiss and pop of the dying hearth log,” Thorin said softly. “And the mountain makes many noises that you have yet to grow accustomed to. It is normal and understandable.”

            Bilbo turned to peek out of Thorin’s embrace and ... yes ... he could see the shadows on the wall; Thorin’s coat over a chair, the table by the hearth, even the vase filled with dying flowers, all casting bizarre and distorted shadows.   And yes ... when he squinted, he could see the bowl of forgotten fruit by the desk; he’d put it there himself just a few days ago.

            There was nothing there.

            No strange sounds.

            No odd noises.

            Nothing out of the ordinary.

            Nothing there.

            Nothing but his foolishness.

            “I’m sorry,” Bilbo said, feeling like a dolt.

            “Sorry?” Thorin softly chuckled. “Whatever for?”

            Bilbo sighed. “For being so silly.”

            Thorin was having none of it. “Nonsense! You have no reason to feel so!”

            “I woke you out of a sound sleep with my ... idiocy.”

            “No such thing,” Thorin insisted. “I’d rather be woken every night to comfort you in your fear than to learn in the morning that you suffered the night without me awake to console you.”

            Bilbo shook his head again. “It seemed so real!”

            “Many nightmares do,” Thorin said gently. “But in the light of reality, they are proved false.” He pulled Bilbo closer, laying Bilbo’s head against his chest. “Do you hear that?”

            Bilbo nodded, he could hear the steady, strong beat of Thorin’s heart.

            “That beats for you. That is what is real and true. As long as it beats, I will always be here to soothe and protect you.”

            Bilbo smiled. Yes, of Thorin’s words he had no doubt.

            “Come back to bed, beloved.”

            Thorin led Bilbo down onto the sheets and in minutes had them tucked together, the furs and blankets pulled up and over them, and Bilbo was cocooned within Thorin’s embrace. With the sound of Thorin’s heart beating in his ear, and Thorin’s arms about him, Bilbo was soon asleep with the warmth and safety that was Thorin’s affection.

 

\-----ooooo-----

 

            As the living occupants of the room slept on, the shadows writhed upon the wall, until they coalesced in the corner. Soon the shape of huge, membranous wings moved upward on the walls and the shade of a great serpent’s head appeared, it’s ghostly eyes shining in the inky gloom.

            _“Thief,”_ It whispered darkly.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the ghost of Smaug blames and haunts Bilbo because it is HE that the dragon blames for his eventual downfall.


End file.
